Faked
by ChemQueen1996
Summary: When life as she thought she knew it is turned upside down, who will be there to help her pick up the pieces?
1. Chapter 1

Faked

Chapter One

When she woke up, with his slightly tanned arm lying across her waist, Hermione honestly couldn't think of a time she had been happier. The single ray of sunlight that managed to escape their heavy curtains had woken her, gently. Though it also could have been the light snoring coming from the man wrapped around her. She smiled as she heard it, thinking only of how nice it was to be with him. How nice it always was to be with him.

She had known this man since she was eleven; had loved him since they were fourteen and had married him by twenty-four. Although, she recalled, he hadn't wanted to wait quite that long. He'd have been happy to get hitched straight out of Hogwarts, pop out a few kids before thirty and live happily ever after. She was grateful she'd managed to slow that plan down, suggesting some extra time between just the two of them would be nice. She had eventually caved on the marriage idea, providing children were not in her near future. Whilst she desperately wanted his kids, she also wanted to have a strong career before that was the case.

To herself, she could readily admit that loving him hadn't always been easy. When they'd first met, they hadn't gotten along. He'd thought she was annoying, a know-it-all bookworm who always had to best the people around her. She could also admit he hadn't been wrong. Coming from her world, she knew she had to prove herself to these people. Prove that she could belong in the wizarding world; though she did attempt to tone down her incessant need to know all the answers.

He wasn't an easily amiable person either, as far as she was concerned. She thought his manners had left something to be desired, to be polite. He also had a need to prove himself; he'd felt he'd been somewhat overlooked in his family. Not that any of that mattered now. They had each other, so whilst it wasn't the easiest start, she was happy it had all gone the way it had.

He stirred, tightening his grip around her body. She knew him well enough to know that he was on the brink of waking. She stilled, trying to allow him to go back to sleep. He hadn't slept as much as she would have liked in the past few weeks. Something about a particularly trying case. After graduating from their eighth year of school, he'd gone straight into the Auror programme, whilst she'd gone into healer training. She felt that if he was going to be out there risking his neck, she wanted to be there to patch him up again. Then send him out to do the whole thing again.

The next few years had been especially difficult – the main reason she hadn't been ready for marriage. His difficult days coupled with her long shifts had very nearly torn them apart. Not that this would be the first time that circumstances had separated them. They had definitely been through more than their fair share of trying times. Growing up through a war not conducive to happy, healthy relationships. They'd argued more times than she could count; but they'd always made their ways back to each other. After his first year of the training programme was complete, things seemed to settle. His hours lessened, as did his injuries. They were able – for the first time – to just focus on being with each other.

As her mind was reminiscing on their past, the arm of the once-asleep man behind her began to move. It trailed gently over her swollen abdomen, pausing to gently caress the small bump that had recently appeared there. It was a little over a year after their wedding day, the week before her birthday, and they had plans to go out with Harry and Ginny. The plan was originally to meet for dinner, then go to a nearby wizarding club where a close friend managed the place. After dinner, during which Hermione had been very careful to stay away from pungent soup Harry had ordered as a starter, they made it to the club. It took all of ten minutes for the group to realise that she wasn't drinking, and within fifteen minutes of entering the club, the party had moved from pre-birthday to pre-baby. He had been shocked, to say the least. There had been the not all together unexpected doubts following shortly after the reveal. His family life had been somewhat unconventional, so it was unsurprising that he was a tad nervous. She had very quickly put a stop to that though. Hermione Granger is never wrong, so no child of hers was going to have an inadequate father.

After his fears had been suspended, he was able to fully embrace the idea of his wife having his child. Since then , he'd been unstoppable. She was now nearly five months along, and the baby already wanted for nothing. The nursery had been decorated in neutral, baby friendly colours, as they were determined to wait for any news of the child's gender. They had finally settled on a Hogwarts themed room, seeing as it was where they met, and where their child would one day end up.

The hand that had paused on her stomach now resumed its slow trail down her abdomen. She could feel the man behind was most definitely awake now, in more ways than one. His hand reached its destination between her thighs and proceeded to send her on a journey of her own. His movements sent her higher and higher, until she rather quickly went tumbling over the edge. So far, the biggest perk of her pregnancy was the fact that she was always ready for him. Once she had calmed slightly, he rolled her over until she lay underneath him. With a quick but gentle kiss, he entered her. He slipped in all at once, with her soaked from his previous play. He started slowly, almost lazily drawing himself out and then pushing back in. Very quickly, this wasn't enough for her. She hooked her ankles behind his back to urge him on. He resisted for a few more slow thrusts before succumbing. The next thrust was harder, sending her scooting up the bed; only a quick reflex on her part prevented her head from hitting the wall behind her. Once they had rearranged the pillows around her to prevent injury, he was back to the faster pace. After a few moments, he slipped his hand back between them, to encourage her over the edge once again. With not many more thrusts, and increasing pressure from his hand, she went tumbling into oblivion yet again. He followed shortly after, though she was less aware of this, still consumed by the haze from her own climax.

They allowed themselves some time to catch their breaths, before he reached for his wand to clean them both. After the simple charm, he pulled her back towards him and wrapped his arm once more around her waist.

"Morning, love" he drawled with his voice still sleepy, despite their vigorous wake up. "Any ideas on the time?"

"Not a clue." She cast a quick tempus charm for them both to see.

"Still plenty early, we have nowhere to be today. You promised me day off and I'm holding you to it." With this statement, she pulled him tighter around her and attempted to doze off once more.

It was little more than an hour later when the both stirred again, responding to the fevered knocking oi=n their front door. With a groan, Hermione pulled herself out of bed and slipped on her robe. She made her way to the door, looking through the spy hole to see Harry standing there, still knocking. She opened the door just as his fist was about to hit it once more, causing him to stumble forward slightly due to the forceful nature of his swing. He righted himself and looked at Hermione. The moment he realised he'd woken her was clear on his face, as it developed a rather apologetic looking smile. She showed him into the sitting room, and asked him to give her five minutes to pull on some clothes. With that, she wandered back to the bedroom.

"It's Harry. Get up."

"I don't want to," he said with his head buried in their pillows. "You deal with him."

"It looks serious, I'm fairly certain it's Auror business. You're his partner, you have to sort this." As she spoke, she crept quietly to the bed. With his face on the bed, he couldn't see her coming. One non-verbal levitation spell later and the quilt that he had been clinging too was floating near the rafters.

"Witch! I'll get you for this!" He yelled, though he probably would have been taken more seriously if he weren't bouncing round their room starkers. Giggling as she went, Hermione sauntered back out to join Harry to wait for her husband.

"Coffee?"

"No thanks, I've been up for hours as it is. Sorry to ruin his day off, but this couldn't wait"

"Anything I can help with?"

"Not really. We're not even really certain what it is yet. You're husband takes longer to get ready than you do. I'll never get used to it."

"You've known each other long enough to by now Harry; you've been friends for years." She turned whilst speaking to yell out for her missing husband.

"Draco… get your arse down here."

* * *

AN - Hello! It's been so long since I wrote something that I feel justified counting this as my first story. I hope you like it.

There's not much story in this one; it's mostly set-up.

Updates will hopefully be weekly, but I'm notoriously bad for sticking to deadlines. :)


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

When she woke up, with his slightly tanned arm lying across her waist, Hermione felt the strongest sense of déjà vu. She was happier than she had ever been, this much she knew. She just couldn't stop the thought that she had felt this way before. She was well aware her life was more or less charmed – give or take a war or two. She was happily married to the man of dreams, and was soon to be having his child. But no matter how much she rationalised her thoughts, she couldn't shake the strong sense of foreboding that had come over her.

He stirred, tightening his grip around her body. She'd known him long enough to know he was nearly waking, but she also knew he needed as much sleep as possible. His current case as an Auror was really taking it out of him; in fact, this morning was the first all week he'd still been there when she'd woken up. She stilled, in an effort to allow him to drift back off. After a few moments, his arm relaxed once more. She would have to get up in a short while, but needed him to remain where he was for as long as possible.

She jumped however, when she felt a sharp kick to her abdomen. Right under his arm. This sudden movement startled him awake, the constant vigilance required by his job training him to react to the slightest stimulus. When the baby kicked again, she could almost feel the large grin spread across his face. Although he'd been scared at first, he'd taken to impending fatherhood like a fish to water, knowing almost exactly what to say and do to calm her increasing mood swings.

As his arm began to caress her swollen belly, her worries from earlier returned. She was positive that this morning had already happened. His hand paused on her bump, just feeling their child within. When it resumed its trail down her body she began to panic. Draco could feel the change in her body, feel the tension in her shoulders and the increase in her breath. He leant forward, to whisper in her ear.

"What's wrong love?" He queried, moving his hand away from its intended goal.

"I… don't know." Her answer seemed to confuse him more. "I mean, doesn't it feel weird to you?"

"I don't know what you mean. This feels like every other morning to me love, except it feels like I haven't seen you in forever."

"But that's exactly what I mean! It feels exactly the same as every other morning" She exclaimed, beginning to get worked up.

He seemed particularly perplexed by this response. "Isn't that how it should feel?"

"Not like this. You don't understand." She could feel the tears pooling in her eyes, though she didn't really know why. He was right, it should feel easy each morning. "I'm just being silly I guess."

"Hey, none of that now." He appeared genuinely concerned by this turn of events. It was clearly not where he thought this morning was going, she'd ruined his obviously amorous intentions by freaking out yet again. "It's not silly, you're not silly. It would be strange if you _didn't_ have the occasional moment."

Whilst it was clear he was trying to help, it wasn't really working. She knew something felt funny, she just couldn't put her finger on it. Though, he did have a point: with all they'd been through, it would be weird if she didn't freak out occasionally. This thought calmed her significantly, and she attempted to put her worries to the back of her mind. After all, it was the first morning she'd had with her husband in far too long.

He could clearly see the change in her thought process, as she rolled on her side to face him. She wrapped one arm around his back and put the other hand on his cheek, leaning forward to kiss him gently.

"I'm sorry. Here I am freaking out when I finally have you to myself. You promised me a day off today, and I intend to use that time wisely." With this, she leant forward again and kissed the large smile off of his face. It took mere moments for the kiss to deepen. Soon, she had rolled them over and was straddling his waist, moving herself to get the friction she desperately required. Now her emotional moment was over with, her hormones had come to the front again. She reached a hand down between to the stroke his length, feeling him shudder beneath her. With one swift movement, he had rolled them over, pressing her to the body with his weight.

However, he had forgotten to move her hair, wrapping her face with the long bushy mane. She was laughing as they untangled her, her earlier concerns long forgotten. Once free, he lent forward to catch her lips with his own, kissing her passionately whilst being careful to not put too much pressure on her baby bump. She needed more however, so she reached between them once more to line him up with her entrance, and with one strong movement of hips he was inside her. At first he was oh so gentle, lazily moving within her before pulling himself out slowly and repeating the process. Once bored of this however, she reached up to hold him, pulling him closer to her. Her enthusiasm was contagious, and his movements sped up until he was frantically moving within her. He slipped a hand between them, coaxing her to the edge before tipping her sharply over it. He stopped moving as she rode out her climax. Once she had regained a level of control, he began again in earnest. With a few more sharp thrusts he was spilling himself inside her.

They lay wrapped up in each other for an indistinguishable amount of time, thoroughly sated. In fact, they both dozed off, slumbering together to recover from the mornings activities. She was woken by loud and persistent knocking at their door. Without checking, she knew it was Harry. The knocking increased in both volume and pace, as he went longer without an answer. She untangled herself from her husband, pulled on a robe and got up to answer the door.

"Hermione, wake up!"

"I'm coming Harry. Keep your hair on." She was almost at the door as he called again.

"Please Hermione, just wake up. I need you, we need you. Just wake up." The change in his tone, from the persistent yelling to the gentle pleading threw her. She pulled the door open, but no-one was there. Her earlier concern returned; the most surprising thing about the lack of Harry was that she wasn't surprised at all. She turned as she heard him again.

"Please, just wake up." She slammed the door shut, startling her semi-awake husband.

"Hermione, what's wrong? What does he want?" She couldn't take the apparent concern in his voice whilst simultaneously trying to drown out the sound of her invisible best friend calling to her. It was all too much, especially for so early in the day. Hermione almost crumpled in on herself with confusion, collapsing ungracefully onto their sofa. The knocking resumed, this time even more aggressive than the last. As she sat there, trying to figure out what was going on with her, Draco stumbled past, shooting her a confused look on the way. He pulled open the door, to see Harry waiting on the other side.

"I'm surprised to see you mate, you normally take longer to get ready than she does. Sorry to bother you on your day off, but we need you. We don't even know what this is yet, but something big is going down." All the time he was speaking, Harry was casting concerned looks at Hermione, still curled on the sofa. "Is she alright?" He asked in an overly loud whisper to Draco.

"I think so? She feels a bit off this morning I guess, hopefully some rest will do her good." She startled at this, having no desire to rest anymore. As far as she was concerned, it was waking up today that had thrown her for a loop. She particularly didn't want to go to bed without him beside her.

"Hermione, please wake up. Harry is useless without you, he needs you. _We_ need you. I'm so sorry, we should have been there sooner. Even if you never forgive me, just wake up. Yell, scream, hex me, just wake up. _Please_." The pleading tone in this voice confused, as did the tone. It sounded as if her husband was speaking to her from the other side of an enormously long tube. It was fuzzy and distorted, barely audible over the conversation in front of her. She just couldn't work out how she was hearing Draco's voice from two places at once.

With all that was going on, her head was spinning. As someone who normally prided herself on her understanding of the world around her, the vents of the morning were particularly hard to take. With a shallow, gasping breath, her emotions caught up with her and she fainted clean away. The last thing she saw before unconsciousness took her were the two gentlemen reaching towards her.

* * *

AN - I realised I forgot to do any form of disclaimer. Clearly, I am not JK Rowling, and all characters belong to her, I'm just borrowing them for a short while.

There is a little more to get into in this one; the story will really start to kick off over the next few chapters.

Thanks for reading :)


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

When she woke up, with his slightly tanned arm lying across her waist, Hermione wanted to cry. When he stirred, tightening his grip around her body, she nearly did. Instead of lying there to coax him back to sleep, she threw his arm off of her and left the bed. He sat up, rubbing his sleep filled eyes.

"What's going on?" The confusion in his voice broke her heart. Whatever was going in with her, she loved this man more than life itself, and couldn't bare the idea of hurting him.

"I don't know. Don't you feel it? This has happened before."

"Of course this has happened before, I'm your husband. You wake up with me every day, have done for the last few years." He spoke as if he was speaking to a small child, or a wild animal; calmly and softly as if any loud noise would spook her.

"It's not that. This day has happened before."

"This day hasn't even started yet, how can it have happened already?"

"I don't know, but it has. Soon, Harry is going to knock at our door, talking about a case he doesn't understand."

"When does he understand a case? Him asking us for help is a ridiculously regular occurrence. Predicting that does not make you psychic, it does not mean the day is repeating itself. You're stressed out, and the baby is playing havoc with you. That's why we're having this day off."

She tried to convince herself that he was right, that the hormones running through her system were turning her into a paranoid crazy person, but she couldn't shake this feeling. It didn't help that the day felt… off. Something was not right with the world as far she could tell, but if even her own husband wouldn't believe her, maybe she was just hormonal? As soon as she'd managed to talk herself into that fact, she heard a furious knocking at the door.

"Hermione! Wake up, we need you! It's been days, and we're a mess without you?" Harry's voice carried through the house. She looked at Draco, panic rising in her chest.

"It's not unusual for Harry to be yelling at our door, remember? It's okay; you're okay." Draco said soothingly, reaching out to hold her. He was clearly beginning to worry about her, but there was nothing she could do to allay his suspicions. With a flick of his wand, Draco opened the door for Harry to come in. When he entered the bedroom to say Draco wrapped protectively around his wife, concern filled his features.

"What's wrong with Hermione?"

"A little confused I think. The stress of work and the baby is taking its toll on her; she really needs this day off. You better not be here to ruin it."

"I don't have a choice mate, it's going pear-shaped at work and we need you."

Hermione felt the world around her begin to lose focus. Before she could warn the men in her room, unconsciousness overtook her, and the last thing she saw was her husbands worried face.

* * *

When she woke up, she wasn't in her bed, with her husband's slightly tanned arm lying across her waist. The bed she was in was much smaller, and much less comfortable. The sheets were stiff and heavy, and the material scratched at her bare arms. She was alone in the bed, but not in the room. A cursory glance showed Harry sleeping in the corner on a fold-able plastic chair.

Her room was stark and plain, with minimal furnishings. There was a bedside table, with a small bunch of flowers that had seen better days; another chair to match Harry's at her side and small, barely standing chest of drawers. The walls were an off beige colour, clearly designed to hide the stains and mess that could be there, and the ceiling was painted an off-white that made Hermione feel slightly nauseous just looking at it. Through careful deduction – mainly through the clothes she was wearing – she decided she was in a hospital room. The fainting spell must have really concerned Draco, for him to bring her to St. Mungo's. At least she assumed it was St Mungo's; she didn't actually recognise the room enough to know for certain.

When she tried to sit up a bit, the movement woke Harry. A look of sheer relief and joy spread across his face, as if he hadn't seen her awake for moths, rather than just the mere hours it must have been. When it looked like he was going to cry with his relief, she began to grow confused. Yes, she was his best mate, and pregnant with his godchild, but this level of concern far outweighed the condition she thought she was in. Unless something was wrong.

"Harry? What's going on, why am I in hospital?"

"You don't remember? We were hoping you could explain to us." With her obvious confusion, his face fell.

"Of course I remember. We were talking in my kitchen, no bedroom, and I fainted. Speaking of which, where is Draco?"

"Malfoy? Why would he be here?"

"Why wouldn't he be here? You're being ridiculous Harry, of course my husband is going to be with me in hospital. I'm not feeling up to one of your pranks today." As she spoke, a look of dawning horror grew on her friends face, and when she said 'husband' he looked as if he were about to be sick.

"HUSBAND? Why on earth would you think Draco Malfoy is your husband?"

"You were at the wedding; in fact, you were Maid of Honour. What's going on?" When it became clear that Harry wasn't joking, she began to grow concerned. When her husband got here, he'd be able to explain. There really was no explanation as to why he wasn't at her bedside. "When Draco gets here will you drop your charade?"

"Hermione, I'm not playing. You're not married to Draco Malfoy. You don't even really like the guy. You can barely tolerate him at my work functions, and when you see him it takes all you have to be civil. You couldn't be married to him anyway, you've been in love with Ron for years."

"Ron? Weasley? How could I be in love with him, I barely know the man." With that, there was an audible gasp from the doorway, as the man in question walked in carrying two hot drinks.

"Hermione! You're awake, thank Merlin." He reached over to hug her, after siting himself in the seat by her bed, but she leant away from him. "What do you mean you barely know me 'Mione?"

"Ugh! Please don't call me that, it's a ridiculous mangling of my name. We went to school together, but we weren't friends. You hated that I was smarter than you, and better at magic. You always claimed your family was so open-minded, but you were jealous of the muggle-born who topped your class. We haven't seen each other since before graduation, when you didn't go back to Hogwarts after the war."

"Look, 'Mione – sorry, Hermione – I know this is stressful, but you're sounding a little crazy. We've been together since before graduation, in fact we are very nearly engaged."

"How can you be nearly engaged? You're the crazy one here. I'm a happily married woman. When my husband gets here you'll understand. I don't know what's going on, but I've had enough." As she spoke, she curled an arm protectively around her stomach, knowing the stress of this situation could not be good for the baby. She still wasn't showing that much, and it was obvious from the looks on the boys faces that they hadn't realised she was expecting.

"You're.. What?... Bump? Married?" Ron spluttered, a horrified look on his face. Harry just looked mildly confused by this turn of events.

"Eloquent as always Mr Weasley." Hermione grumbled. "I'm pregnant, obviously, or did you just think I'd put on weight? For somebody who claims to know me so well, you are being very obtuse. Would somebody please find my husband now? I expect he's rather concerned, and there is no need for him to worry."

Harry stood as he spoke. "I'm sure I can find Draco, and he can help sort things out here." With that, he left the rom, leaving Hermione and a rather speechless Ron together.

"Draco? As in Malfoy? You think you're married to Malfoy? But we hate the guy!"

"I barely know you, so how could you possibly hate my husband?" Hermione was growing annoyed with the bumbling redhead before her. "Would you just leave? You're obviously confused, and I'd like you gone before Draco arrives. He'll be worried enough without you here making matters worse."

A look of shock, mixed with what she thought was hurt, crossed the ginger's face. "You… you want me to leave so you can be with Malfoy!?"

"With Draco, and yes. I'd like to see my husband without a weirdly obsessed stranger in the room.

"Husband?"

"Stranger?"

The two words were said simultaneously, as a very confused looking Draco entered the room.

"I don't know what you think is going on Granger, but I'm not your husband."

* * *

AN - So now it's really starting to get going.

I want to thank everyone for the favourites and reviews; I've never had this much interest in my writing before


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"Not my husband? I don't know what you guys think you're playing at, but I am not in the mood for one of your pranks today." Hermione was beyond confused as to why her best friend and her husband thought waking up in the hospital was a good time to play a joke on her.

"Mione, we're not messing around. What do you remember?" The concern evident in Harry's voice started to worry her; if he was that obviously worried, then something more serious was going on here.

"I remember standing in our bedroom," she said as she looked at Draco, "I wasn't feeling well. I think I passed out, and the next thing I know I'm in St Mungo's."

The men in the room shared a look, as if speaking to one another telepathically.

"Tell me more about your life Hermione, how do you think it is? Since the war."

"This is really weird Harry, I don't understand what's going on. You know how my life has been, you're in it." Her voice rose in pitch as she grew concerned over what she'd woken up to.

"Just humour me Mione. Tell me about Draco."

"No. You need to tell me what is happening right now Harry Potter." The concern she felt was turning to anger at the situation she was in. And the way her friends were treating her.

"Mione, you've been at St Mungo's for about a week. You're here because the Aurors on your case found you and brought you here; you were unconscious when they found you and have been since then. We've been waiting for you to wake to ask what happened to you. The last thing we knew you were on your way to Australia to see your parents. That was around six weeks ago now; you've officially been a missing person for a month, when none of us heard from you. Ron was worried sick"

"Missing… six weeks?" The shock became too much for her to deal with, and Hermione fainted dead away.

* * *

When she woke up, with his slightly tanned arm lying across her waist, she could nearly cry with relief. She held the arm around her tighter, forgetting her concerns from the past few days. This was how life was supposed to be. Her husband laying asleep behind her, his arm wrapped protectively around her and their child. Her movement woke him, and she rolled over to see his face. The love visible there reassured her.

"I had the weirdest dream, these pregnancy hormones are really playing havoc with my mind apparently." She said with a laugh in her voice.

"What happened?" In his half asleep state, the words came out mumbled, but the query was still apparent in his tone.

"I was at the hospital with you and Harry and Ronald, funnily enough. But you were all convinced you weren't my husband, and that I was instead all but engaged to Weasley."

"You mean you woke me up to tell me your dreaming of a relationship with another man? Should I be concerned?"

"Do not be ridiculous. Ronald Weasley is a joke; and I'm fairly certain he's gay. How could he ever compare to you? It was a nightmare is what it was. Maybe you could make me some dreamless sleep?"

"I'll have to check if you can take it in your condition–"

"I can. I checked already."

"Of course you did," he said with a chuckle, "my little bookworm."

" _Hermione, wake up."_

"I'm not certain I appreciate the nickname, no matter how many times you've called me it." Now that she had that problem solved she was able to relax. If she trusted anyone with the potion is was her husband.

"What are we up to today then? You promised me a day off and I intend to enjoy it." As she stood up to get dressed, a wave of dizziness overcame her.

" _Hermione, it's me. I need you to wake up love."_

She quickly righted herself against the bed, but not before the concern could show on Draco's face.

"I'm fine, don't worry. Just tired. I'm going to go make breakfast while you decide what we're doing with your free time." As she spoke, a persistent knocking was heard at their front door.

"I bet that's Harry, I'll let him in. You better get dressed."

 _Beep. Beep. Beep._

The knocking was getting louder and more obnoxious the longer she left him, as it normally did. She started speaking as she was opening the door.

"Unless Voldemort himself is terrorising London you can't have him Harry. You promised me I could have a day with him; he's been on mission for months. You can have him back tomorrow, I just want one day with my husband."

"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't important Mione, you know that. Hopefully, you'll come up with a starting point and I'll be on my way. If not, I might need him." The man in question came tumbling down the stairs two at a time.

"I'm not going anywhere Potter, I haven't seen Hermione in forever, and who knows when I'll see her again before the baby is born."

 _Beep. Beep. Beep._

" _Hermione, wake up. I need you; the baby needs you."_

While the boys were talking, Hermione grew dizzy again. Before anyone could catch her, she crumpled to the floor, a hospital like beeping ringing in her ears.

* * *

When she woke, again in the hospital with Harry sat beside her bed, she did weep. Something was clearly going on, and right now she couldn't tell what was real and what was not. Hermione Granger-Malfoy was not a fan of confusion, and the overwhelming nature of her world moving around her was starting to take its toll on her emotional well-being.

"Hermione! You're awake again; you scared us when you fainted. I don't think I've ever seen you do that before. I sent the others from the room until we can get this cleared up. At least you know we're friends, so we can start there." While he was speaking to her – in a manner that made her feel like a small child, or a wounded animal – he was moving things around the room. Clearly, the situation was not good for the Chosen One either; he only pottered when he was nervous.

"Harry, what's going on? One minute, I'm in my flat with my husband having breakfast, the next I'm in a hospital bed being told the world I thought I knew isn't real. I don't know what to believe at the minute." The pain in her voice grew more pronounced as her sentences ran on. Harry put the flower vase he was relocating for the third time back on the windowsill and took the seat next to her bed. Without a word, he reached forward and took her hand in his. With this small gesture, Hermione burst into tears again.

"Oh Mione, it'll be okay. We'll figure out what's happened, we always do. Don't you worry about anything else, we need to keep you and my nephew safe in there."

When he mentioned the baby she had all but forgotten, she calmed slightly. Getting worked up was not good for her or her child. Though currently she wasn't certain who she shared the baby with. This thought nearly set her off again, before she managed to rein it in.

"Harry! The baby!" She said with huge gasps between each statement. "Who is the father? Apparently the man I thought I was married to doesn't have anything to do with me here."

"The father? It's Ron. He wanted to marry you once he knew, but you refused. Said it wasn't the right reasons, and that if he didn't want to marry you before, a collection of cells in your uterus shouldn't make the slightest difference. He was quite put out if I recall. Slept on my sofa for about a week."

The idea of a Weasley – that one in particular – being the father of her child nearly made her sick. When she thought harder about just _how_ that baby had gotten there, she just narrowly avoided throwing up on Harry, instead making it to the bin on her other side.

* * *

AN - I must admit, while I was writing this chapter this story ran away with me, going in an entirely different direction than to what I initially planned. I hope you like it :)

Thank you for all the reviews, I am not normally one to reply to them, but it is nice to know that the story is coming across as I intended it to.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

After cleaning herself up, as well as the bin beside her, Hermione took a moment to think about what was happening to her. As far as she could tell, there were currently two lives going on in her head, but she had absolutely no way of telling which parts were real.

"Harry, tell me about my life. How did I end up here?"

"We're not quite certain Mione. You went to visit your parents for a month, but then you never came back. It took another week for us to convince Kingsley you were actually missing; he thought it was ridiculous that we thought you couldn't look after yourself. You turned up when we went to deal with another case – we were honestly surprised to find you there. Ron freaked out when he saw you lying there, he'd been so worried about you the entire time you were gone. Once he figured something was wrong he was nearly inconsolable. We brought you straight here, and the Healers said you were fine, just unconscious."

"How did I get there though?" Hearing Harry's story was not helping her place her timeline like she thought it would.

"The Healers are hoping you will regain some of those memories, once the sedative is fully out of your system." Harry looked concern while he spoke. "They're hoping to send you home this evening, after another check-up."

"Home?"

"With Ron. You guys live in a flat round the corner from Diagon Alley."

"I'm not certain I'm comfortable moving in with a man I barely know." In truth, the idea of living with the Weasel nearly made her sick again.

"Everybody thinks going back to your normal routine will help your memories come back faster. And you don't 'barely know him', he's Ron. You've loved him forever. It will take less than an hour for you to realise how you feel, I guarantee it. You guys are meant to be."

Whilst she still felt nauseous at the idea, she couldn't deny the logic. If this truly was her life, then she needed to get back to it in order to remember it. The not knowing was what was really bugging her.

"Where is Ronald?" She figured if she was going to live with the bloke, he should at least be there to talk to.

"Waiting outside. He didn't want to confuse you more than you already are. If you are ready to talk to him then I'll grab him for you." With that, Harry left her alone for what felt like the first time in forever. She used the moment to try and ascertain what she knew for sure.

She knew that Harry was her friend, and that they had been friends since Hogwarts.

She knew that she was Hermione Granger, brains of the golden trio and the brightest witch of her age.

She knew that she was pregnant. Around five months, if she was guessing.

She was fairly certain that Harry and Draco were partners, but she wasn't sure where Ronald fits into their relationship.

She had been told conclusively that she was in a long-term successful relationship with Ron Weasley, who was apparently the father of her unborn baby.

Beyond that, her life was a sea of unknown factors. She didn't know where she lived, or where she worked, or even who her other friends were. She sincerely doubted that she was close with Blaise and Theo, as even in her dream her friendship with them started with her relationship with Draco. She didn't know where her parents were, or whether she ate cereal or toast for breakfast. The amount she didn't know about her life currently outweighed the things she did. But she was Hermione Granger, and she was going to rectify that situation as fast as she could.

As she was thinking, Harry wandered back into the room alone.

"Where is he?"

"Grabbing lunch I believe, he'll be in in a few minutes I guess."

She also knew that Ronald Weasley liked to eat. At least somethings never changed.

"Okay. I'll go home with Ronald. I want to get my life back. Whatever they gave me, wherever I was, I want to get over it. And I want to find the bastards that put me there and sort them out too. Any leads?"

"Well, we were there to deal with reports of domestic disturbances. A neighbour called us in when heard a dispute, and though they saw spell fire. The damage to the building clearly shows a fight went down – I'm assuming that was you. We didn't manage to catch anyone though. When we found you, you became our priority. Though you appeared comfortable enough, just unresponsive. Ron was worried about the baby, but the Healers say she's absolutely fine. They –"

"She? I'm having a little girl?"

"Oh Merlin, you didn't know? Sorry Mione, I wouldn't have said anything if I though you didn't know. Bugger it." Whilst Harry was apologising, the door behind him opened and a head full of bright red hair popped round the frame.

"Mione? You wanted to see me?"

"Ronald. Come in." Even knowing she was supposed to be in love with the man, she struggled to see herself with him. He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him again.

"How are you feeling?" The clear concern on his face was enough to convince her that he definitely cared for her. And that whilst she had been asleep and dreaming of life with another man, he had been awake and worrying himself crazy of her and their baby. The realisation of the love he felt for her stirred something within, and she could start to picture them together.

"Getting better. They say I should be able to go home this evening, once they've checked on me again. I understand that home is with you, if you don't mind me intruding?"

"Don't be ridiculous, it's your house. If you wanted me to stay somewhere else while you adjusted I wouldn't be offended." Again, his level of thoughtfulness towards her was unexpected. The Ron she knew had a ridiculously limited emotional capacity, so the fact that he would offer that despite the way it was nearly killing me spoke greatly about how he felt.

"Now who's being ridiculous? I refuse to kick you out of your own home. You will just have to be patient with me while I adjust." As she was speaking, a sense of calm came over her. These were the first steps to getting her life back. "Tell me about our house?"

"It's more of a flat. We don't really need much space. We have a double room, and we are currently converting the study into the nursery. You did all the decorating the muggle way; said it felt more like a home that way. I remember you painting. You had these weird muggle overall things on, and they were covered in paint. In fact, I think there was more paint on you than on the wall."

As he was speaking, she could begin to picture the scene he was describing. She could see herself in the dungarees, with her hair pulled back into a messy bun. She would have the paint brush in one hand and would probably be steadying herself against the wall with the other. There would almost definitely be music playing, and she'd be dancing along as she painted. And he was right, she would be covered in the stuff, from her hair to her toes. There would be dust sheets everywhere, though she usually conceded to the use of magic when it came to tidying up. Just not to the decorating itself – it didn't feel the same.

"… and you had this god awful song playing when I walked in –"

"I remember this." She interrupted him in her excitement. "It was S Club 7 thank you very much. Reach is a classic and I won't hear otherwise." The boys in her room sat with shocked expressions on their faces, turning to joy as she spoke.

"You remember?!" they spoke in unison. The emotion on their faces was contagious, and she broke out into an enormous grin.

"I remember decorating the study. You wouldn't let me paint the nursery by hand, said the fumes were bad for the baby. Just the fact that you'd done enough research to know about the paint fumes made me listen to you."

"We knew it would start to come back to you love." Ron's smile was nearly large enough the affect his speech.

"You'll just have to continue with the stories. Hearing you describe it helped me see it. It was almost like a bed time story: once I could picture it in my head, then I could start to remember."

"I've got all the time in the world for stories love. This is the start of the rest of our lives."

* * *

AN - I have had some reviews mentioning apparent continuity errors, and how the story is a little confusing. It is meant to be this way, I promise it will all become clear with time. I hope this chapter helps clear a few things up, but some of it will have to wait I'm afraid.

I hope you enjoyed this one :)


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Once they deemed her fit, Hermione was allowed to go home. Although, home wasn't really where she felt she was going. Whilst listening to his stories seemed to help, she still didn't feel quite settled into this life. The marriage in her dreams seemed too real, too _right_. It didn't help that no-one seemed to know why she had been taken, or even who had done it. Until more was understood, she wouldn't feel entirely safe.

Ron had been brilliant though. He never seemed to mind that she didn't remember him properly, or that she didn't want to go home with him. It had been decided though that that would be the best place for her. Hopefully, if his stories seemed to help so much, maybe reliving her life would help her put the pieces together even more. If she could remember, it might lead them back to what happened to her.

So, she got ready to go home with a man she barely knew. He assured her they had a spare bedroom she could sleep in until she was comfortable, and plenty of room so she wouldn't feel underfoot. As she couldn't remember her life, she couldn't go back to work. She, apparently, worked a part time office job in the ministry. Nothing as glamorous or as useful as a Healer, but it seemed to work around Ron much better. She was there when he went to work and back again by the time he got home. All in all, it was nothing like she thought it was.

She hadn't even seen Draco since the first day at the hospital. It seemed her claiming her undying love had scared him just a tad. She did know, however, that he worked with Harry. In fact, that's why he was at the hospital to begin with. He was one of the Aurors who had found her.

"Hermione, you ready?" The quiet knock on her door startled her from her thoughts.

"Yeah, I think that's everything." She looked at the two men in her doorway: her best friend and her boyfriend. "Will one of you apparate me?"

"You're not cleared for that yet, we have to take the Floo. I know you hate it, but it's our best option." Harry looked guilty to tell her this, as if it was somehow his fault.

"No, that's fine. I'll follow you guys." A few moments later, with a green flame and some awful spinning, she was home.

When she stumbled from the fireplace on the other end, she headed straight for the nearest sink. She was lucky the main room appeared to be open plan, and she could see the kitchen when she entered. She didn't like the transportation on the best of days, but the pregnancy seemed to make it even worse. After she finished, and cleaned herself up, she turned to have a closer look at the place she lived.

It was… nice. Not the way she would decorate it, which seemed odd. Obviously Ron must have different tastes. But it was pleasant and she could see the personal touches. It felt a bit like a show home. The kind the estate agents sets up to make the house look nicer, with the stock photos in the frame and the cookies in the oven. Whilst the pictures in the frame were of her and her friends, it didn't feel lived in. It didn't seem like a house she would have chosen.

She wandered into the bedroom, and found most of her stuff. Again though, the clothes in the wardrobe were similar to what she would wear, but they weren't clothes she would pick for herself if given a choice. Clearly the dream she had been in had changed more than just her partner. Harry and Ron followed her throughout the flat, watching her reactions to see if the place triggered anything for her. But it didn't. It was too different to anything she expected. It just made her feel slightly nauseous; like she was trapped in a parody of her life. Though that might have been left over from the Floo travel.

"So, how long have we lived here?" The question seemed loud in the empty flat, the boys clearly surprised by the words.

"Since we left Hogwarts. We moved in together straight away; you didn't want to live at the Burrow."

That surprised her. She'd lived there that long and still wasn't happy with the decorating? Ron's face looked almost nervous answering her questions as if might fail somehow. Something didn't feel quite right with the whole situation, but she couldn't decide if that was down to the memory alteration.

"We moved in in the August after we finished. You spent weeks painting the place just so. Another month before you finally found the right sofa. And don't even get me started on the bedroom. We slept on a mattress on the floor for nearly six months before you settled on the one we have."

Like last time, as he spoke she could see the images forming in her head. She could hear the laughter as they painted each other, she could feel the pain in her back from the sleeping arrangements. It was weird how immersive the memories became, but only once he described them to her. Almost like his words had a magical power over her.

They continued round the house like this; he told her wonderful tales about their life together based in each room, and she would envision their world. Harry became an awkward bystander, and he excused himself about half an hour in.

"You don't really need me here for this? You're better off with Ron, right Mione?"

"Yeah, sure." She wasn't quite certain she was ready for Harry to leave, but he looked so uncomfortable with the 'couple' that she felt selfish asking him to stay. Ron's face had also looked so happy when she agreed, she couldn't admit that she was absolutely terrified of being alone with him.

Before she'd even finished verbalising her agreement, Harry was out of the dining room and into the Floo.

"So, where to next?" She asked to cover her anxiety. Ron led her through to the kitchen, and continued with his stories.

They spent the next few weeks living exactly like that. He would lead her through their life with his tales, and she would grow ever more comfortable with him. Until, she couldn't really remember not being with him. Though she still couldn't really remember being with him either. She was currently existing in a weird state of limbo, where the life she thought she was living was still not like the one she had.

It didn't help that they hadn't allowed her back to work yet. Though, with the baby, Ron kept forcefully hinting that they hadn't planned for her to go back at all. Which just didn't sound like her _at all._ She would never give up her career for a family; she firmly believed that you could do both. But, she also wouldn't classify a part-time role in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures as a challenging career point. It didn't seem fair to compare her life to that of her dream, but she couldn't help but feel like Healing was much more worthwhile.

So she spent her days alone whilst everyone in her life was being a useful member of society. She read – as was expected of her – and she explored the area that they lived in. She met with her friends for lunch, where the regaled her with tales of their lives, before heading home alone again, to clean, or sleep, or something equally as thrilling. All in all, Hermione Granger was not happy with this life.

One Wednesday, she was wandering around muggle London, exploring the little lane of second-hand bookshops that she loved, to find old medical books. She had been there for at least a few hours, though she had lost track of time, as she normally did when browsing books, when she heard a voice that she really hadn't expected.

"No, Mother, I'm not at work currently. I'm searching for that book you wanted."

It definitely _sounded_ like Draco, though there was no way he'd be there, surely? She turned around the shelf in front of her to follow the voice, and saw the head of white-blonde hair she'd been looking for. He was holding a phone to ear, which surprised her even more than him being there to begin with. This Draco had no reason to be interested in muggle technology or books, she thought.

He turned at that moment, and caught her staring at him, mouth open with the shock at the whole situation. She surreptitiously pinched herself just to check this wasn't one of her weird dreams, before heading over to him. He gestured that he'd be done soon, though he looked confused as to why she was interested. She waited patiently for his conversation to finish.

"Granger."

"Malfoy. Fancy seeing you here?"

"Have you gotten over your little fantasy world yet? Or are you still under the delusion that _we_ are an item?"

The lack of venom in his voice took the bite out of his words, but it was still uncomfortable to remember that he was privy to those dreams.

"I'm good now, thank you for asking. It was nice to see you."

With the awkward tone in the air, she felt it best to end the interaction there. With those parting words, she left the bookshop, without the tome she'd been looking for.

* * *

AN - Just to clarify some reviews, this is most definitely a Dramione fic, though it may not feel like it at the moment.

Also, sorry for the delay, but I am currently on holiday, so have gotten this out as fast as possible. I hope you like it :)


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Despite her best efforts, she couldn't get her brief encounter with Draco out of her mind. At the time, it had felt awkward and uncomfortable; however, looking back, it hadn't been anywhere near as bad as expected. He had been civil – bordering on friendly – with his tone, and though his words weren't exactly kind, they weren't mean either. She didn't know what to think.

This dwelling of her mind also made her feel incredibly guilty. Here was Ron, doing his best to make her feel at home in the life they had, working round the clock to welcome her into their home and to be there to support her, and here she was, spending her time wondering about another man. She decided then and there that had to stop. It wasn't fair to anyone involved, especially the man she supposedly loved. She would just have to make more of an effort with Ron.

With that in mind, she spent the rest of her day preparing dinner for him, for when he finished work. Whilst being a homemaker wasn't in her life plan, it didn't hurt to show him she appreciated the effort he was putting in. She went to the shops to get ingredients, and spent all afternoon slaving away at the stove to prepare some of his favourite dishes. Despite being brilliant at potions, cooking wasn't really a strength of hers. She had always struggled with the domestic arts – yet another reason why staying at home wasn't really suited to her. But for this, she would try her best. When Ron walked through their door that evening, she could tell that he had had a long day. Though he was home on time, the look on his face suggested that something hadn't gone to plan. She was in no position to assist with his problems, but she could try and help with the stress that they caused.

Ron had also been extremely lovely when it came to the more _physical_ side of their relationship. She wasn't comfortable in anything more than the occasional hug when she didn't really remember being with him before. To her, everything was new. Every touch or action was their first time – which was a particularly difficult concept when he had done it all before. And he had completely understood; he hadn't pushed or whined or even mentioned it to her. But the more time they spent together, the more ready she felt. It didn't hurt that she carried around with her physical proof that they had been that close in the past.

So when he walked in looking particularly stressed, she walked over and kissed him. It wasn't an extremely passionate kiss, or even a very long one, but just that fact that she had kissed him seemed to surprise him. What surprised her, however, was that she felt… nothing. Normally, when they relived something they had done before, it triggered memories and feelings within her. However, this didn't do that. It just felt like a short, slightly awkward and unexpected kiss with a stranger. He appeared to feel differently, and took her initiating the kiss as a sign she was ready for me. He pushed the kiss beyond what she intended, making it more forceful. When she tried to pull away, he wrapped his hands around her hair – not aggressively, just enough to keep her in place -to hold her against him. He seemed to feel that she wanted this. When she actually resorted to pushing him away though, he seemed to realise the truth, when he saw what he had done, he looked stricken.

"Mione, I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me." The pain in his voice was heart-breaking, especially when she considered the fact that he hadn't really done anything wrong.

"Ron, there's no apology needed. I kissed you, remember? I just don't think I am ready for anything more yet. I didn't mean to confuse you; you just looked like you needed something. I've cooked dinner – though whether it is edible is another story." With that change in subject, she considered the topic over.

What she missed, as she turned to the kitchen, was the look of utter rage on Ron's face.

After the debacle with the kiss, she thought they took a step backwards. The weeks following it were awkward again; Ron seemed to always be at work, and when he was home he barely interacted with her. She wasn't quite sure what had gone wrong. He seemed almost _disappointed_ in her, or the situation. Which she could understand, but it wasn't her fault. None of this was her fault, but he seemed to be acting like she was doing this on purpose. At the time he had seemed angry with himself for pushing her, but now that seemed to have transferred to her.

What was even more confusing, was the how she felt about this. It almost pained her to realise that he was upset with her, and she was never like this. She didn't care when the boys were upset with her before, as long as she knew she was right. And she did know she was right this time too. But the more she thought on it, the more her brain seemed to come up with ways she was wrong. It was trying to convince her she was the one who owed an apology, and the longer he left it, the more she believed it.

And that is how she found herself repeating her failed attempt at dinner. She cooked a different set of his favourite meals – he liked food so much there was plenty to choose from. She even bought a dress she thought he would like. This was a mammoth task in itself, considering her current size. She was only a few weeks away from her due date now, and she felt enormous. Not that anyone would tell her so. The thought of the baby brought her back round to her relationship issues – if you could even call them that. She didn't want her child brought into a world where she couldn't even remember it's father, or being with him.

Having learned from the mistake of last time, she waited in the kitchen for Ron to return. He was late – again – and she was hungry. But she would wait. After another hour, she started to grow concerned. Another half an hour passed before he arrived, and by this point she was terrified something had happened. In spite of her plan, she ran from the kitchen to hug him when he arrived, just to prove to herself that he was real. He seemed surprised again, but quickly returned the gesture. Without a word, she led him through to the kitchen to eat.

"Ron, I thought of something today that we need to discuss." Her words seemed to confuse him, as if it was unlike her to start a conversation with her own thoughts. Which, come to think of it, it was. Since she had woken up, she had bent to his will a lot more than she thought she typically would, she just chalked it up to the stress of the situation.

"The baby will be here in just a few weeks, and I don't want to still be so awkward when it gets here. I should feel comfortable with my child's father when they're born."

She tried to remain calm, as she knew this wasn't aimed at him so much as her. She just needed a plan in place for how they were going to move forward so that their baby arrived into a family that was ready to have a child, not one where the parents barely knew each other.

"So what do you suggest we do?" His tone of voice felt as if he was humouring her, as if the very idea of her having a plan was ludicrous. However it very quickly progressed to annoyance, then anger. "I've spent months trying to make you comfortable with me, yet you still freaked out with a simple kiss. I don't know what you want from me. This isn't worth the money, I swear!"

With that ridiculously confusing statement he was gone. Not just out of the room, but completely disappeared. No disapparition, no Floo; he just vanished on the spot.

* * *

AN - Sorry again for the delay, and for that fact that this one is a shorter chapter than the others. I am coming up to exam season, so the writing will probably slow down fro the next few weeks.

Though, this does make 10,000 words, and I don't think I have ever written that much for one thing in my life!

Thanks for all the continued support; the favourites and reviews always make me really excited when I see them come through.

I hope you like this one :)


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

When she woke up, she was alone. She hadn't seen Ron since he'd left, and their argument haunted her. At the time, she hadn't really noticed what was going on, but when she thought back over it she realised just how weird their conversation had been. Just what exactly did he mean by 'worth the money'?

So she'd spent the week continuing on with her life of mindless shopping for books she no longer cared to read, interspersed with the occasional aimless trip around muggle London. She also started purchasing some items for the baby, though she currently had no idea where they were going to go. That would have to be her next activity – producing a nursery. At last having a clear plan for her time, she had managed to move on from any anger at Ron and into the beginnings of concern. It wasn't like him to just disappear, surely? She wouldn't put up with that for very long.

As the days ticked past and still no word, she started trying to contact anyone who might have heard from him. Weirdly though, she struggled to get in touch with any of her friends. Harry and Ginny were busy dealing with the boys, so didn't really have any time to talk. Ginny told her that he was probably holed up in a bar somewhere trying to figure out how to apologise for his appalling behaviour. If she didn't see him in the next couple for days, then they would start to help look. Even this brief – and altogether rather useless - piece of advice was given via owl correspondence as opposed to face to face.

And after talking to them, she wasn't really certain who else to turn to. She still couldn't remember anything for sure, so she had no idea of who would be willing or able to help her. So she buried herself in preparing for her child's arrival, and hoped its father would soon see sense.

She was buried elbow deep in a pile of newly purchased baby clothes when Ron finally walked through the door. So engrossed was she in her organisation that she didn't hear him until he was at the door.

"Mione? What happened to my study?" He spoke calmly, though even that gentle tone shocked her, as she thought she was alone.

"RON! Where in Merlin's name have you been?" Now that she could see he was okay, the anger returned with a vengeance. "You left me here. I don't even know how you left, or what half the things you said even meant, but you just left. And didn't come back. For a week. How could you?"

By the end of her speech, her anger had turned to tears – bloody baby hormones – and the last query was choked out around a sob. He was the only one she had and he'd just left her there to fend for herself. He just stood in the doorway, looking aghast at the state of the room, barely seeming to even comprehend she was speaking, let alone the state she was in.

"Where is all my stuff, Hermione? What the fuck is going on here?"

When she looked up, he looked mad. As mad as he'd looked when he left last week; madder than any other time before that. Which just didn't make sense; it was obvious what she was doing. Their baby needed a room, and the study was the only one they had available.

"What the fuck do you think is going on? You disappeared, but that doesn't mean the world stops turning. The bay is nearly here, and as you clearly didn't want to talk about it, I started solving problems myself."

"I can't even leave my own home without you changing everything. This is beyond ridiculous."

"Our home, Ron. I live here too, and so will our baby. What is going on with you right now?"

"I'm… sorry Mione. I don't know what is happening here, but it's not how I thought it would be. But I am going to fix it, I swear. Now, let me make us both a cup of tea, and we can sit down and talk this out, how's that sound?"

He seemed like a different person by the time he finished that sentence. She warily nodded her head, accepted his hand up and followed him down to the kitchen.

* * *

When she woke up, with a pale, wiry arm thrown haphazardly over her waist, she was confused. The arm definitely didn't belong there, as she'd slept alone since she'd been in hospital. Come to think of it, she couldn't work out why she was in bed. The last thing she remembered was sitting at her dining room table, talking with Ron. Next thing she knows she's in bed with him. At least she hoped it was him.

When she tried to turn around and see, the arm across her body tightened, making it impossible to move. It held her closely, and she could feel the man attached to it against her back, his breath rustling her hair ever so gently. She reached down and shook him, hoping to loosen the grip; it didn't work, only serving to lose her some space. She tried again, only harder, and this had the desired effect. His arm loosened enough for her to roll over, bringing her face to face with Ron. Literally. As she rolled, her nose it is cheek. She hadn't been that close to anyone since before her baby bump-

The baby.

It wasn't there.

Looking down between their bodies, there was no protruding stomach to keep them apart. What the fuck?

Her rising panic was obviously enough to rouse him from his sleep, as Ron's eyes fluttered awake.

"Morning Mione." His words broke through his sleepiness, and were said with a smile in his voice. When she didn't reply, he woke more, looking concerned.

"Mione? You okay?" By this point, her breathing was out of control and she could feel the panic in her eyes. He seemed to realise this too, as he pulled her face away from his to give her space.

"Breath Mione. Whatever it was, it was just a dream. I'm here, you're here. We're all safe."

His soothing tone helped bring her back around; he'd clearly done this before.

"Now, what was it this time?"

" It was so weird Ron. We were having such a terrible fight. About the baby. But it felt so real. So very real. I woke up thinking I was there, but then I wasn't pregnant and it was just too much to deal with that close to waking up. Sorry I freaked out, I'm good now."

He looked at her as if he wasn't convince that she was okay; but he didn't look surprised or confused by the topic of her dreams.

"Baby? You want a baby?"

"No.. I don't know. I didn't think I did, but that dream felt so real, and I was so excited. I don't know anymore."

"If you want us to have kids, then I'm ready if you are. If not, we'll wait. We're not in any rush. I'm just lucky I have you."

Looking back, her dream hadn't been all that pleasant. Ron had been a bit of an arse – not like himself. And she'd had no job, no purpose, no meaning to her days except preparing for the baby. Her real life wasn't like that. Nope. Definitely not.

Though, in all honestly, she couldn't for the life of her remember what her real life was like at this point. She seemed to be stuck in a dream inside a dream inside a dream last night, and it was taking her a while to fully regain a sense of the world around her. She tried to take a moment to ascertain what she knew for sure.

She knew that she was in a long-term successful relationship with Ron Weasley.

She knew that Harry Potter was her best friend, and that they had been friends since Hogwarts.

She knew that she was Hermione Granger, brains of the golden trio and the brightest witch of her age.

She knew that she wasn't actually pregnant. Just looking at her stomach confirmed that had been part of the dream.

Beyond that, her life was currently a sea of unknown factors; the fog of the early morning and the haze of a convincing dream clouding her ability to see beyond. She also had the strongest sense of déjà vu, as if she had had this exact talk with herself before.

Something was clearly going on in her head right now, and it was leaking into her life. She had no idea where she was supposed to be going to work this morning, or even what she typically had for breakfast. Everything felt wrong – as if she'd both never done it, and lived it a hundred times before. At this rate, she'd be seeing a therapist before lunch to try and decipher the mess of her thoughts.

"Mione, come back to bed. There is not decent reason to be awake at this hour, especially on a Saturday."

She hadn't even known it was Saturday. Deciding that sleep was probably the best solution to her current state of mental fogginess, she crawled back into bed beside Ron, who was already fast asleep. She lay there for what felt like hours – but was probably only a few minutes – before sleep overcame her. Hopefully a nice, dreamless, peaceful one this time.

* * *

AN - I want to thank everyone for all the reviews and favourites, I have honestly never had this much interest in a story before.

This one is intended to confuse things even further, and hopefully it is successful. things will become clearer eventually. I have no idea how long that will take, I write this as it comes, I don't really have a grand plan for it just yet.

I hope you enjoy it :)


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

She woke up in the arms of her Weasley. It was the same as it had been for the past few weeks; she'd wake up before him and lie there trying to piece together her life. She wanted to feel like she belonged, like this was her home. Instead, she woke up every day feeling… off. She lay in bed beside the man she was supposed to be in love with, and couldn't get over the feeling that she wanted it to be someone else.

After a few moments, the man in question would stir, and she'd feign sleep again. He'd wake up and brush the hair from her neck before leaning over to kiss her. At this point, she'd 'wake up' and smile at him, because despite her misgivings he'd been nothing but lovely to her. Not that he knew about her feelings; she was very careful to maintain the air of someone who was completely content with their life. She would get up and shower, whilst he made breakfast, or vice versa and the morning passed smoothly.

He would then leave and head to work, before she'd clean up from breakfast before heading out herself. Whilst she wasn't a Healer, at least she had a job. She manged a local book store, with a small lending library attached that worked with local orphanages to help magical children learn about their world. She didn't want anybody to start Hogwarts in her position – with this whole world being new and unknown whilst the others around her had grown up so very used to it.

She loved her job. Working with children was amazing, though she didn't initially think it would be right for her. She had never been all that keen on dealing with young people; here years spent mothering Harry and Ron were enough to put anyone off of a parental role for a good few years. Instead, it was perfect. The children she worked with were studious and excited to be there. And passing on knowledge had always been a favourite past time of hers.

So life was fairly back to normal. At least more normal than it had felt for a while. Ron still disappeared and she couldn't get hold of him no matter what she tried. And there was still the nagging feeling in her head that something about this wasn't right. The series of dreams she had had had really twisted her perception on how her life was supposed to be.

He stirred behind her, reminiscent of dream-Malfoy. He pulled her in tighter against him, as if he couldn't bare for her to pull away. She took the opportunity to shake off the rather gloomy thoughts and look forward to the day ahead. They were going to dinner with Harry and Ginny apparently, though Ron was playing the night close to his chest. She had the morning at work but the afternoon off; she had been told the restaurant was particularly fancy and "might try to cook the birds that could live in her hair." Not the most romantic statement, but at least factual. Whilst she had attempted to manage the curls on her head, they still stubbornly defied gravity whenever she left them unattended.

The morning passed quickly. Before she knew it, she was apparating home from work to get ready for dinner. True to tradition, she didn't really know where to start with her hair. Instead, she opted for a bath, to take up some time and give her a chance to think. And plan a course of action for the afternoon. She had about an hour until she needed to be ready once she finished in the bath, which wasn't all that long to sort her hair out and then get ready. The use of specially designed potions in the bath did help on the hair front; the steam from them helped to loosen the curls and make them more manageable. You could still tell that her hair was wild, but it definitely tamed it somewhat. With at least the first part of her plan sorted, she ran herself a hot bath with the potions and grabbed the book she was currently reading off of her nightstand and climbed in.

Just under an hour later she climber back out. She was definitely feeling more relaxed, and the steam had certainly worked its magic on her curls. She pulled the wet tendrils away from her face and up into a bun before drying it with a spell. Once dry, the bun became messy, sitting just off centre on the nape of her neck, with a few loose strands hanging around her face.

With her hair sorted, she began work on make up to match. The dress she had chosen – at Ron's suggestion – was knee length and black. It had a halter style neck that tied behind her bun. There was nothing particularly fancy about the dress itself, but the style allowed itself to be dressed up by the chosen accessories. She paired it with a dark teal wrap to cover her arms and some black high heels. Looking over the ensemble, she couldn't see any possible objections.

The combination of the dress and the hairstyle lent itself to a dark lipstick. The shade she chose was a deep purple, which went nicely with a very pale nude eyeshadow. She wasn't a fan of much other makeup. She avoided foundation like the plague, but could occasionally be convinced to use powder – the Yule Ball being the main event that she ever wore more makeup at. She did apply some mascara and eyeliner, just to frame her lids, but other than that she didn't think she needed anything else.

This opinion was apparently wrong.

When Ron got home from work she was just coming downstairs to meet him. He looked her over appraisingly before finishing on her face. The look on his when he finished was anything but flattering. He looked almost… disappointed.

"Is that what you're wearing?" He asked, though the tone of his voice suggested that it probably shouldn't be.

"Yes."

"I asked for you to look nice; I told you it was a fancy place. And you couldn't even be bothered to fix your hair."

"I di-"

"You'd do it FOR HIM!"

At this, she didn't really know what was going on .

"Him?"

He carried on as though she wasn't event there.

"But you don't care for me. All the effort and time and money I've put in to get us here. I reset things once already and now I have to do it again. This is only going to hurt you, but you can't just accept things now can you! You're mine now, and you need to start acting like you CARE ABOUT ME!"

By the time he was done ranting he was screaming and his face rivalled his hair. She stood there in shock, having absolutely no idea what he was talking about. She couldn't help but think back to how her life had been in the first dream – the one with Malfoy as her husband.

 _She walked down the stairs to greet him. As she did, he looked up from her feet, over her dress and to her face. When he got there, she couldn't believe the look on his. He looked… bewildered. As if she was the most wondrous thing he had ever seen; as if he couldn't believe she was walking to him._

" _Mione, you look… words can't describe how amazing you are"_

She shook the thoughts from her head, as Ron appeared to be shaking them from his.

"I'm sorry Mione, work is shit at the minute but I shouldn't be taking it out on you. I'm just nervous is all. You look lovely. Are you ready to go?"

Despite her misgivings about the whole evening, she took his arm as he led them away.

* * *

AN - Apologies for the delay, my dissertation is due this week and I have been slaving away over it. Good news though, its finally finished, just some last minute editing - it is the second thing now that I've written over 10,000 words for :)

This one is short I'm afraid, though it felt like the best place to finish up. I hope you like, and it isn't becoming _too_ complicated. It will all make sense eventually :)


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

He led them away to what he clearly thought was a marvellously fancy location. Instead, it was the Leaky Cauldron. For the life of her, she could not work out why the local pub was necessary of dressing up; or worth him almost breaking down about it. She tried to keep the mix of confusion and disappointment from her face, but was apparently unsuccessful.

"What now? Not good enough for the great Hermione Granger? Bet he never took you here did he? Only the best for that twat. Come on then, in we go." He reached around her and grabbed her arm, almost pulling her into the pub behind him.

They walked past the crowded tables into the smaller room out the back. This room was empty, with a single table within. Not how it normally was, so he'd clearly booked something in advance for dinner. Still not enough to justify his behaviour, but he looked as if her was making an effort with the gesture, and she didn't want to be the one to ruin it.

"This is nice Ron, I didn't know they booked it out like this."

"They don't; but once I mentioned it was for you, they couldn't have been more helpful." His voice grew spiteful as he finished, as if was mocking her for his use of her name. This was getting ridiculous now, and to think she'd even been excited for their evening. But he'd come home and done nothing but ruin it for her. It was unacceptable.

"How dare you. Who do you think you are speaking to Ronald Weasley? I have –"

"Oh, so now it's Ronald Weasley. You're so big headed you don't even see it. How dare I even speak to you? That's what you are saying now."

"Of course not, that is not what I said. You're not treating this properly Ron. What has gotten into you?"

"What has gotten into me? Nothing. Nothing is ever about me, or hadn't you realised that yet Hermione? This is the first time in my life I have had something that was just mine and you're still not doing it right. How many tries will it take for you to get it right?"

"What on earth are you talking about Ron?"

He seemed to finally look at her when she asked that, as if he realised what he was saying.

"It's nothing, Mione. I've just had a really shit week at work, but I shouldn't take it out on you. Will you please let me make it up to you?"

"You can try. I understand you may be struggling with something, but that is absolutely no excuse to treat me the way you have treated me tonight. I won't put up with any longer, you understand?"

"I'll be on my best behaviour, I swear. I just wanted a nice night together and I've ruined it."

She sighed, "not yet you haven't. But I won't hesitate to hex you if you even think of grabbing me again. So, onto dinner then?"

She shook herself off, and tried to save what was left of her night. Whilst she didn't quite buy his reasoning; it wasn't the first time he had said something weird like this, and she would get to the bottom of it eventually. Just not tonight, because they really did need a nice night together.

They went in and sat at their singular table in the private room. The place looked different; there had been some extra touches made to brighten up the usually cramped room for their visit. It was clear, upon closer inspection, that someone had put a lot of time and effort into fixing the place up, so it wasn't clear why he'd then spent the evening fighting her.

"So, how was work this morning?" His tone was light; he was clearly determined to put this right.

"Good. Busy, but good. It sort of passed in a blur, I was so nervous about getting ready for tonight. I didn't know what to expect."

"And then I went and ruined it. I Was wrong, you know? You look amazing and I was an idiot for saying anything to the contrary."

"Do you want to talk about it? Maybe I can help?"

"It's not something we can fix. There is a young woman who has gone missing, and her husband and friends won't give us enough space to find her. It doesn't help that it was probably one of them that has done something, it is just making it a rather stressful environment at the moment. But it isn't anything I should let interfere with our night, I had, have, such wonderful plans for tonight. Starting with dinner."

As he said that, Hannah came out of the back room with two plates of food in her hands, as if the moment had been rehearsed. On the plates were their starters – a small selection of seafood, with prawns, calamari and even an oyster each.

"That looks lovely Hannah, thank you." Hermione really, _really_ , loved seafood. She began to eat as soon as the plate was in front of her. Ron watched with an amused – though slightly irritated looking – smile on his face.

"This tastes as good as it looks, this is amazing Ron." She looked up as she spoke. "Why aren't you eating?"

"Just watching you, I know how much you love fish."

"You're right; and it feels like forever since I've eaten it. Now dig in, I feel self-conscious eating alone." And with that, they were both silent until their plates were clear. As soon as they were, Hannah was back out collecting them, almost as if she was watching them.

"Good?"

"Perfect, thank you. I don't know that I need anything else."

"Trust me, when you see it you will want it."

A few short moments after clearing the first course, Hannah was back with two plates containing the most succulent looking roast lamb that Hermione could ever recall seeing.

"I am certainly being spoilt tonight Ron, this is lovely. I can't wait to see what it for dessert. Definitely making it up to me." She said this with a wink, but it seemed to ignite just a small spark of anger in his eyes, which was quickly extinguished by a bright smile.

"I am very glad you are enjoying it; I should know you well enough by now to know your favourite foods. I'd be pretty rubbish if I didn't."

Again, she couldn't resist tucking in as soon as the plate was down, but this time Ron joined her. Even he couldn't resist the temptation of the perfectly pink lamb in front of them. The only sound in their small room was the scraping of their cutlery on the china and the tinkling of their glasses as they drank. There was a slightly longer delay this time, as Hannah once again came to clear the table.

"I'll give you a few moments before dessert, shall I?"

"That sounds perf-"

"No!" Ron shouted over Hermione's reply. " I mean, I really want to see your face when you see it, even if we don't eat it yet."

Confused, but seeing no reason to argue, Hermione just nodded. Hannah disappeared back through the door only to reappear almost instantly with their final dish. From the short distance, Hermione couldn't see what had Ron so worked up, it looked like a slice of chocolate cheesecake. A nice slice, but nothing particularly extravagant. Once it was placed in front of her however, she saw it.

The ring.

The ring in her cheesecake.

She almost didn't want to, but she glanced over at Ron, to see him kneeling next to the table in front of her.

"I know, after tonight, this probably seems like a massive surprise, but that was kind of the point. I thought you had figured it out and I wanted to through you off. You are the smartest person I have ever met Hermione, and for some reason that wonderful brain of yours has deemed me worthy of your time. And I will spend every day of our lives trying to prove you right, if you'll have me? Hermione, will you do me the greatest honour of becoming my wife?"

She was frozen to the spot. Like earlier, a memory or a dream came rushing to the front of her mind.

 _The man in her arms was quite possibly the antithesis of everything she believed in before, but somehow he was so perfect for her. She pulled away slightly, to look at his chiselled face and into his stormy grey eyes a started to speak._

" _Marry me."_

 _She spluttered, and looked beyond confused._

" _Say what?"_

" _You heard me. Marry me."_

" _You're proposing? We are lying naked in bed after doing things an unmarried couple shouldn't be doing, and you're proposing. How do I know this isn't post-coital wishful thinking?"_

" _There is a ring in my bedside drawer; it's been there for more than a month waiting for me to find the perfect time. And I have realised, any time is the perfect time, but our lives together are perfect. And I want to go on perfectly loving you for the rest of my days. Now seemed as good a time as any to start that."_

 _By the time he'd finished speaking she was in tears, as the truth of what was happening overcame her. He really was proposing, and he really,_ really _, meant it._

" _Yes."_

* * *

AN - here it is, chapter ten. It should all start to make more sense over the next few chapters, I hope.

However, my final year exams are over the next month or so, so updates may become few and far between, but I promise I will not give up on this story, for anyone that is interested enough to read it.

I hope you like this one :)


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

"Hermione?"

"Hermione? Are you okay?"

"Love, say something. Preferably yes, but anything will do at this point."

"HERMIONE!"

The shout finally snapped her from whatever dream she was having. Or memory. She really couldn't tell which at this point. Which was weird, because she should know what had actually happened to her and what was apparently a small psychotic break. Shouldn't she?

"This is just great; I do all of this and you can't even act like you care."

"What?" She was confused and dazed by the memory, but couldn't for the life of her work out why Ron sounded so upset with her.

"I just asked you to marry me and you zoned out. Real nice there Mione. Really showing the love."

"I'm just a tad surprised Ron, that's all. I was not expecting this. At all."

"That was the plan at least. I'm sorry I was stressed earlier, but I thought you suspected things and I had to put you off the trail."

"Well it definitely worked."

"So, what do you say?"

He waited expectantly, clearly anticipating a positive answer that she wasn't certain she could give. Things had felt …off, lately and she wasn't sure marriage was the way to counteract that. But who knows how he would react to a negative response, not that that should be a reason to say yes.

"umm… I don't know, this is all so sudden Ron."

"What do you mean you don't know? Either you love me or you don't."

"It is not that simple."

"It really is. In fact, it should be even easier; you shouldn't have a choice but to love me!"

This was one of those times she didn't really understand what he was talking about again. An occurrence that seemed to happen increasingly often.

"I pay more than good money for you to be with me, but apparently it is not enough. This last lot was supposed to make you forget all about him, but he's still in your head, isn't he? ISN'T HE?" He ended his rant with a roar.

"I have no idea who or what you are talking about!"

"Malfoy! You would never love me the way you loved him, without a little guidance. And I would never be capable of brewing a potion like that, so I have to pay for it. But no matter the cost, you will love me one day. I will make sure of it. You can't have Malfoy, when it is supposed to be us. You were always meant to be mine!"

His face was becoming more and more red as the conversation went on. Clearly he was in the middle of some major moment, as nothing he was saying was making sense.

"Ron? I have always been with you. I am not with Malfoy; why would you think that?"

"Because you are! I took you from him, and now they can't find you. Because you are mine. They think you're in Australia with your parents, when actually I have you here with me. It's all going to plan, except you. Even like this you won't love me, not like you love him. But I can fix that, I'll just have to try again. And I will keep trying till you love me."

With that he disappeared.

* * *

When she woke up, she was confused. Everything that was happening was completely out of the ordinary: Ron was behaving like a mad man; she was reliving lives in her dreams and she hadn't seen her friends in days. She had literally no idea what was going on, but she was determined to figure it out. Whatever was causing Ron to act like this was going to come out into the open and she was going to fix it.

Again, she hadn't seen Ron since his mysterious disappearing act, but as soon as he was back they were going to talk. As if thinking of him summoned him, she heard a loud crack from the kitchen.

"Ron? Is that you?"

"Yeah Mione, it's me. Who else are you expecting?"

"Where have you _been_? It's been days without a word! How dare you disappear like that, without explaining anything! You have been acting like a complete psycho lately and its time you explained to me!"

"You have no idea what you're talking about. You don't know what I am going through to maintain all of this. At this point you are way more hassle than you are worth. They told me I could only do a reset once more before it starts to … _damage_ … you. I don't want that; I just want you to love me. Why are you making this so hard?"

"Reset? What are you talking about Ron, what have you done?"

The look on his face was actually scaring her; he seemed so completely broken at this point.

"You won't remember anyway. I'll start over, but I'll take us away from here. Somewhere where it is just us; no one else to interfere or take you away from me."

"Ron, I haven't seen anyone but you in weeks. I don't know who you think is stealing me."

"MALFOY! I loved you my whole life, and you went and fell in love with the fucking ferret! You were supposed to wait for me, but you dropped your knickers for the first guy to ask, even though he hated you for most of our lives!

So I had to fix it. You belong with me, and you needed assistance to see that. So I got a potion made to help. I needed you to forget that you loved him, and remember that you should love me. It's taken some tweaking to get it right; the baby made things way more complicated than I could handle so I removed it from the process.

They all think you're in Australia visiting your parents before the baby is born; Malfoy couldn't get the time off. I relocated you, and you've been with me ever since. But every time you freak out I have to restart the whole thing, and there is only so many times you can have this potion, apparently."

She stood there, completely lost for words. Whilst she knew something was wrong with the man she thought was her partner, no one would ever think of something as insane as this.

"Ron.. are you okay? Do you need to sit down or something? You're sounding a little loopy."

He looked at here with such sadness in his eyes, that quickly morphed into anger when he saw the concern in hers.

"You never listen to me. The wise Hermione Granger couldn't possibly accept the word of the lowly Ron Weasley. No, only the best for you, even if that means spreading your legs for a death eater. I don't even know why I love you anymore; you're shallow and vain and never had time for me."

"Ronald! I have stood behind every stupid idea and ridiculous plan you have ever had, despite you being cruel and mean o me on multiple occasions. You slept with Lavender for a year to rub it in my face; the one time I felt pretty you ruined my entire evening, and on the night you were planning on proposing you told me I looked awful. If anyone should be surprised there is any sort of relationship between us it is me!"

"That's what I'm saying you crazy witch. There wasn't, until I made one. I have earnt the right to have you, putting up with you through school, and I will do whatever it takes to make you see that. Next time I will get it right, and you'll see your place."

"I'm leaving."

"YOU CAN'T"

As she turned to leave, without another word, she didn't see the spell aimed at her back. It caught her in the shoulder sending her falling forwards. Her eyes had closed before she hit the ground, and everything around her was black.

* * *

A/N - Sorry for the delay, final exams are really _really_ kicking my arse this year. I can't guarantee any more updates until after they are finished, but once I am done I will definitely be back.

Hopefully, this chapter provides a few answers as to what is going on; I hope you like it :)


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